Beautiful Olive Oyl, Ugly Me - Part 2

At now 58-years old, my relationship with my body, eating, food, and spirit have changed and evolved enormously. I have high hopes for continued evolution and I welcome future growth. Let me cut to the chase and then back pedal. The biggest change in how I eat, relate to food, and feel about my body is directly connected to how I feel about myself from the inside out. By focusing more on the actual me, the me-soul that is inside, and less stressing, fussing, and obsession with how I look on the outside, I’ve reached a place of inner calm and acceptance.

Of course, it makes sense that so many of us are externally focused. There is an enormous amount of pressure from Hollywood, glamour magazines, social media, and more to look a certain way. That way usually means, if you’re a woman, thin with shapely breasts, long blond hair, pretty face, etc. For a man it implies being tall, muscular, lean, and handsome. Most of us strive to achieve the ‘look’, sometimes without even realizing the pressure we put on ourselves for perfection. If we get close to the ‘look’, we may have a ‘false, positive sense’ of feeling good. When we’re far from the ‘look’ we frequently can feel down, dejected, lonely, angry, and ‘not normal’ or less than. How sad, really.